Change in District Negotiators for CSEA:  The Board approved my recommendation to have Dean Rory Johnson replace Dr. Angelina Hill as the District’s Chief Negotiator with the classified bargaining unit.

Approve Retuning to Virtual Meetings: Given the surge in the COVID-19 virus and its variants, the Board agreed to return to virtual meetings for the near future. I hope to return to in-person meetings when it is safe to do so.

Approve Proposed Interim Board Policies: On the Board agenda were two interim Board policies that memorialize the vaccination and masking policy the District currently has in effect.

• BP 2900—AS a condition to physically accessing any District building, classroom, library, gymnasium, facility, or other indoor setting, all District employees and students shall either: 1) present proof that they have been fully vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19); or 2) undergo regular testing for COVID-19 infection and produce proof of negative COVID-19 test results.
• BP 2850—Regardless of vaccination status , all students , employees , and visitors shall wear a Face Covering while present in any District building, classroom , library , gymnasium , facility, or other indoor setting. Faculty and sign language interpreters may remove their Face Covering while teaching or signing if all of the students in the classroom are wearing Face Coverings and proper social distancing can be enforced between the students and the faculty.

I will send a revised BP 2900 with an accompanying AP to the Board for approval at its September 7 board meeting that supports Resolution 782.

Approve Resolution 782 Requiring COVID Vaccination Status Documentation: Similar to many of you, I have been following the number of COVID-19 cases and the vaccination rates in our service area on a regular basis of several months. The surge in infections, hospitalizations and deaths of the unvaccinated, the increase in breakthrough cases, and the low vaccination rates in our service area persuaded me that we must do more to ensure that our college and local community remain safe and we do our part to stop the pandemic and save lives.

Therefore, over the last few weeks, I consulted closely the College’s leadership and local medical professionals. I appreciated the advice and counsel they provided.  Based on these consultations, I recommended that the Board approve a Resolution that mandates that all employees and student workers be fully vaccinated by September 30. The resolution also stipulated that students must be fully vaccinated by the time the spring 2022 term begins. 

Vaccination exemptions will be made due to personal, strongly held religious beliefs or medical direction given by personal and/or family physicians.

I have every confidence that we will implement this new vaccination program with competence and compassion. I will have more to say about this as implementation plans are fully developed.

I will continue to keep a close eye on infection rates—which are on the rise now due to the Delta variant—and the impact these rates might have on our operations. I will not hesitate to act sooner or recommend a different course of action to the Board if I feel the need to do so.

Finalize the Board’s 2021-23 Goals: The Trustees approved their draft goals after some discussion.

Finalize the President’s 2021-23 Goals: The Board approved my 2021-23 goals. I attached my approved goals to this blog article.

Discuss Advocacy Ideas for 2021-22: We had a great discussion on possible advocacy ideas the Board may pursue this year. Ideas discussed were:

• COLA in 2022-23
• CR offering vocational focused baccalaureate degrees
• Funds for Aquaculture and wind technology labs
• Startup funds for new CR academic programs linked to HSU’s polytechnic and focused on increasing workers for the local healthcare facilities
• Support for our Pelican Bay Scholars Program

The Trustees agreed that the Board’s Ad Hoc Committee on Advocacy should review and revise Board Policy 2515 and AP 2515 to try to make the advocacy process more nimble.

Discuss Garberville Proceeds: The Trustees continued the discussion related to how the District is spending the proceeds from the sale of our Garberville Instructional Site. This was a great discussion.